Wire feeding unit and wire bending apparatus including the same

ABSTRACT

A wire feeding unit includes a pair of wire feeding portions, wherein each of the wire feeding portions includes a driving roller which is driven by rotation power, a belt which is connected to the driving roller to rotate and is brought into contact with a wire while being rotated, at least one driven rollers which are rotated by being coupled with the driving roller by the belt, and a guide portion which is placed to pressurize the belt to one side and guides a position of the belt such that the wire is moved by the belt, wherein the pair of wire feeding portions are symmetrically disposed and one of the guide portions is disposed to face the one side of the other.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The following description relates to a wire feeding unit which supplies a wire to a bending apparatus for bending the wire and the wire bending apparatus including the wire feeding unit.

2. Description of Related Art

Generally, wire bending machines are widely used in a wide range of applications ranging from two-dimensional machining to three-dimensional shape machining owing to the advantage in that they can process quickly and inexpensively various shaped workpieces used in complicated and various types of parts, such as automobile parts, industrial machine parts, materials used in office supplies, medical supplies, construction materials, and the like, from mass production to small quantity production. A wire bending apparatus may be largely divided into a straightener for straightening a wire, a feeding device for transferring the wire, and a head portion for performing at least one of bending, folding and cutting. The feeding device rotates while pressurizing the wire using a plurality of feeding rollers and transfers the wire of a predetermined length.

In this case, when outer circumferential surfaces of the rollers are brought into direct contact with the wire to transfer the wire, delivered power for pressurizing and moving the wire may be reduced by spacing tolerance between the rollers and thus it may be difficult to bend the wire at a predetermined point.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The disclosed embodiments are intended to solve the above-described problems of the conventional wire feeding unit and an objective of one embodiment of the present disclosure is to preform bending with high reliability by configuring a belt to be in direct contact with a wire so as to increase a contact area with the wire, thereby preventing rotation of the wire and stably delivering power for transfer.

Another objective of one embodiment of the present disclosure is to continuously provide delivered power for transferring a wire through uniform pressing force by pressurizing the wire using a belt which is in direct contact with the wire and is slid along a wire guide portion.

Still another objective of one embodiment of the present disclosure is to allow a feeding distance caused by delivered power to be proportional to motor rotational speed through tooth-engagement between a pulley and a belt which is in direct contact with a wire.

In one general aspect, a wire feeding unit includes a pair of wire feeding portions, wherein each of the wire feeding portions comprises a driving roller which is driven by rotation power, a belt which is connected to the driving roller to rotate and is brought into contact with a wire while being rotated, at least one driven rollers which are rotated by being coupled with the driving roller by the belt, and a guide portion which is placed to pressurize the belt to one side and guides a position of the belt such that the wire is moved by the belt, wherein the pair of wire feeding portions are symmetrically disposed and one of the guide portions is disposed to face the one side of the other.

At least one driven rollers may include a first driven roller and a second driven roller and the guide portion may be interposed between the first driven roller and the second driven roller and pressurize the belt.

The guide portion maybe disposed projectedly of at least one driven rollers, toward the one side such that the belt between the driving roller and at least one driven rollers is pulled.

the guide portions may be disposed projectedly of the first driven roller and the second driven roller, toward the one side such that the belt between the first driven roller and the second driven roller is pulled.

The belt may be coupled and driven with the driving roller and the driven roller by tooth engagement.

In another general aspect, a wire bending apparatus includes a straightener into which a wire is fed; a pair of wire feeding portions which transfer the wire passing through the straightener; and a head portion which bends the wire while drawing out the wire transferred from the wire feeding portions, wherein each of the wire feeding portions comprises a driving roller which is driven by rotation power, a belt which is connected to the driving roller to rotate and is brought into contact with a wire while being rotated, at least one driven rollers which are rotated by being coupled with the driving roller by the belt, and a guide portion which is placed to pressurize the belt to one side and guides a position of the belt such that the wire is moved by the belt, wherein the pair of wire feeding portions are symmetrically disposed and one of the guide portions is disposed to face the one side of the other.

Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a wire bending apparatus employing a wire feeding unit 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a wire feeding unit according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a front view illustrating a wire feeding unit according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a wire feeding unit according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in accordance with the following drawings, however, they are only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for increased clarity and conciseness. Also, terms described in below are selected by considering functions in the embodiment and meanings may vary depending on, for example, a user or operator's intentions or customs. Therefore, definitions of the terms should be made on the basis of the overall context.

The spirit and scope of the disclosure are defined by the appended claims. The following embodiments are only made to efficiently describe the progressive technological scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Hereinafter, a wire bending machine 10 employing a wire feeding unit 100 of the present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a wire bending apparatus 10 employing a wire feeding unit 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the wire bending apparatus 10 of the present disclosure includes a straightener 11, a wire feeder 110, and a head 13. The straightener 11, the wire feeding portion 110, and the head portion 13 may be fixed on a base 2 in the form of a single plate. Specifically, the straightener 11 may be a configuration through which a wire 1 is drawing into the wire bending apparatus 10 for the first time. When the wire 1 is wound around an arbitrary winding portion (not shown), the straightener 11 may straighten the wire 1 which has been bent, i.e., nonlinearly shaped, in the course of winding and provide the straightened wire 1 to the wire feeding portions 110. Alternatively, the wire 1 may be fed through a wire inlet (not shown), passing through the straightener, and then be provided to the wire feeding unit 100 (110 and 120). The wire bending apparatus is to bend a wire for orthodontic treatment.

The wire 1 straightened through the above procedure may be fed to the head portion 13 by the wire feeding portions 110 and 120. The wire feeding portions 110 and 120 are devices for generating transfer power by which the wire 1 is transferred and transferring the wire 1 and may serve a function to transfer the wire 1 drawn into the straightener 11 to the head portion 13.

In addition, the above-described wire feeding portions 110 and 120 include a pair of symmetrical structures. Thus, the description of the wire feeding portions 110 and 120 will be given below based on one wire feeding portion 110. The wire feeding portion 110 may include a driving roller 111, driven rollers 112 a and 112 b, a guide portion 113, and a belt 114. In the present example, the driven rollers 112 a and 112 b includes a first driven roller 112 a and a second driven roller 112 b (two driven rollers), the guide portion 113 is interposed between the first driven roller 112 a and the second driven roller 112 b. The wire feeding portion 110 may be formed as a symmetrically arranged pair. The wire feeding portion 110 may be configured to directly transfer a transfer power by which the wire 1 is transferred. For example, the driving roller 111 may be connected to a power source for generating the transfer power and transfer a rotation power, and as the first driven roller 112 a and the second driven roller 112 b engaged by the belt 114 are rotated, the wire 1 in direct contact with the belt 114 is transferred in a direction in which the belt 114 moves.

Meanwhile, since the wire 1 is brought into contact with the belt 114, surface friction may be increased, and hence a contactable surface area of the wire 1 and the belt 114 may be secured, thereby preventing the wire 1 from being rotated in the course of transferring the wire 1. The rotation of the wire 1 may mean that, in the case of the wire 1 being formed by twisting a plurality of fine wires, the wire 1 is rotated along the direction of twisting during transfer as the contact area between the wire 1 and the configuration that transfers the wire 1 is reduced. Therefore, by securing the contact area between the belt 160 and the wire 1, the wire 1 may be prevented from being rotated during transfer.

Here, the driving power source may be a driving motor 115. In addition, a pair of wire feeding portions 110 may be configured such that the driving roller 111 and the driven rollers 112 a and 112 b which are coupled with each belt 114 may be engaged by teeth in order to keep a wire feeding speed constant. Accordingly, it is possible to maintain a proportional relationship between a rotational speed of the driving motor 115 and the feeding speed of the belt 114 and it is easy to prevent an error due to slippage between the belt 114 and the wire 1. The wire feeding portion 110 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

Then, the wire 1 transferred by the wire feeding portion 110 to the head portion 13 may be bent in a predetermined direction under the control of a controller (not shown). As an example of a bending method, when the wire 1 is provided to the head portion 13 at a constant speed, a bending portion (not shown) positioned at a front side of the wire 1 in an advancing direction of the wire 1 interferes with a predetermined area of a cross-section of the wire 1 to guide the wire 1 to extend in a curved manner and be drawn out. The above bending method is merely an example in which the head portion 13 bends the wire 1 and various methods may be employed such that the wire 1 may be folded by pressurizing a folded point according to the manner of operation of the head portion 13.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a wire feeding unit 110 and 120 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a pair of wire feeding units 110 and 120 may be positioned in both directions perpendicular to a direction in which the wire 1 is provided from the straightener 11. That is, a pair of wire feeding portions 110 and 120 may be disposed so as to be symmetrical with respect to the wire 1. Each of the wire feeding portions 110 and 120 may have a transfer power generated by the driving motor 115 as described above. The transfer power for transferring the wire 1 may be sequentially transferred to the driving motor 115, the driving roller 111, the belt 114, the driven rollers 112 a and 112 b, the belt 114, and the wire 1.

That is, the belt 114 may serve a function that transfers the wire 1 with which the belt 114 is in direct contact and a function that interlocks the driving roller 111 and the driven rollers 112 a and 112 b. In addition, each wire feeding unit 110 or 120 may have a guide portion 113 in order to pressurize the wire 1 through the belt 114 in both directions. Specifically, the guide portion 113 may be disposed to be in contact with one surface of the belt 114 and be disposed close to the wire 1, so that the other surface of the belt 114 can be in contact with the wire 1. In this way, the pair of wire feeding portions 110 and 120 may pressurize and transfer the wire 1.

That is, since the transfer power for transferring the wire 1 through the wire feeding portions 110 and 120 is generated by the driving motor 115, the rotational speed of the driving motor 115 included in each wire feeding portion 110 or 120 in the pair may be preferably the same. It is apparent that, even when the rotational speed differs between the driving motors 115, the number of rotations of each belt 114 can be controlled to be the same by forming a difference in the diameter or the number of gear teeth between the driving roller 111 and the driven roller 112 a and 112 b and applying reduction and acceleration. However, in this case, a rotation power generated from the rotation of each belt 114 may be set to be the same during controlling the number of rotations.

If there is a difference in rotational force between the belts 114 on both sides in contact with the wire 1, the belt 114 on the side of low rotational force may slip between both guide portions 113 due to pressing force. Preferably, each driving motor 115 included in the wire feeding portions 110 and 120 in both sides may rotate at the same rotational speed and the same torque and the diameters or the number of gear teeth of the driving roller 111 and the driven rollers 112 a and 112 b may be determined to be the same. In addition, a pressurizing surface of the guide portion 113 in contact with one surface of the belt 114 may be rubbed by sliding friction with the belt 114. The arrangement of the guide portions 113 will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating a wire feeding unit 100 (110 and 120) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, the cross-section is taken along A-A of FIG. 2, wherein the belts 114 are located in both sides of the wire 1 and the belts 114 may be pressurized by the guide portions 113 in the direction of the wire 1. The belts 114 may be pressurized such that a predetermined tension is generated, and the wire 1 may be interposed between the belts 114 by pressurization. In this case, a length direction of the belt 114 may be parallel to a direction in which the wire 1 is provided from the straightener 11. In addition, the belts 114 which is in contact with the wire 1 and pressurizes the wire 1 may have a predetermined degree of elasticity, thereby being capable of moving the wire 1 along the direction in the wire 1 is provided.

In this case, the wire 1 is guided by the guide portions 113 so that the wire 1 can be more precisely transferred to the head portion 13. The wire 1 may be more firmly fixed by the guidance of the guide portions 113 during transfer. For example, when the wire 1 passing through the first driven roller 112 a and the second driven roller 112 b is moved depending only on tension of the belts 114, support force supporting the wire 1 in a pressurizing direction P does not exceed the elasticity of the belts 114. Thus, the wire 1 may be supported by pressing force applied by each pressurizing surface of the two facing guide portions 113 for more firmly supporting and transferring the wire 1.

Hence, a distance (spacing) between both guide portions 113 may be reduced or increased depending on a predetermined diameter or width of the wire 1. In other words, the guide portions 113 may be disposed projectedly of a predetermined straight line tangential to two outer surfaces of the first driven roller 112 a and the second driven roller 112 b, toward the pressurizing direction P in which the wire 1 is pressurized. An projected distance D in the pressurizing direction P may be selectively determined according to the diameter or width of the wire 1. Accordingly, it is possible to maintain a predetermined pressing force.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a wire feeding unit 100 (110 and 120) according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, an embodiment in which one driven roller 112 is provided is described and a driving roller 111 a connected to a driving motor 115 may be interlocked with the driven roller 112 by a belt 114 a. In the present embodiment, the belt 114 a may be pressurized by a guide portion 113 a as described in the embodiment in FIGS. 1 to 3. The guide portion 113 a may be arranged to press one side of the belt 114 a coupling between the driving roller 111 a and the driven roller 112.

To implement the aforementioned structure, diameters of the driving roller 111 a and the driven roller 112 may be formed to be greater than those in the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 to 3. This is to secure a space for accommodating the guide portion 113 a since the guide portion 113 a may be disposed in an inner space of the belts 114 a for coupling the driving roller 111 and the driven roller 112. In the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 to 3, two driven rollers 112 a and 112 b are provided and form together with the driving roller 111 a a triangular-shaped inner space so that there is no limit in diameter. However, in the present embodiment, the diameters of the driving roller 111 a and the driven roller 112 need to be secured.

Preferably, the diameters of the driving roller 111 a and the driven roller 112 may be set to be greater than or equal to the width in a direction in which the guide portion 113 a pressurizes the belt 114 a. By doing so, the guide portion 113 a only pressurizes the belt 114 a on one side and the resistance to the rotation of the belt 114 a may be prevented from being increased due to contact with the belts 114 a in both sides.

The wire feeding unit and the wire bending apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may have the following advantages.

The wire feeding unit according to one embodiment of the present disclosure allows a belt to be in direct contact with a wire so that a contact area with the wire in a feeding direction is increased and rotation of the wire is prevented. Therefore, delivered power is continuously transferred to stably provide the wire to the head portion and to perform bending with higher reliability.

In addition, the belt which is in direct contact with the wire is slid along the wire guide portions and pressurizes the wire so that delivered power for transferring the wire can be continuously provided through uniform pressing force, thereby preventing slippage between the wire and the belt.

Also, tooth engagement between rollers and the belt which is in direct contact with the wire may allow a feeding distance caused by the delivered power to be proportional to motor rotational speed.

A number of examples have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A wire feeding unit comprising: a pair of wire feeding portions, wherein each of the pair of wire feeding portions comprises a driving roller which is driven by rotation power, a belt which is connected to the driving roller to rotate and is brought into contact with a wire while being rotated, at least one driven rollers which is rotated by being interlocked with the driving roller by the belt, and a guide portion which is placed to pressurize the belt to one side and guides a position of the belt such that the wire is moved by the belt, wherein the pair of wire feeding portions are symmetrically disposed, and one of the guide portions is disposed to face the one side of the other.
 2. The wire feeding unit of claim 1, wherein at least one driven rollers include a first driven roller and a second driven roller and the guide portion is interposed between the first driven roller and the second driven roller and pressurizes the belt.
 3. The wire feeding unit of claim 1, wherein the guide portion is disposed projectedly of at least one driven rollers toward the one side such that the belt between the driving roller and at least one driven rollers is pulled.
 4. The wire feeding unit of claim 2, wherein the guide portion is disposed projectedly of the first driven roller and the second driven roller, toward the one side such that the belt between the first driven roller and the second driven roller is pulled.
 5. The wire feeding unit of claim 1, wherein the belt is coupled and driven with the driving roller and the driven roller by tooth engagement.
 6. A wire bending apparatus comprising: a straightener into which a wire is fed; a pair of wire feeding portions which transfer the wire passing through the straightener; and a head portion which bends the wire while drawing out the wire transferred from the wire feeding portions, wherein each of the pair of wire feeding portions comprises a driving roller which is driven by rotation power, a belt which is connected to the driving roller to rotate and is brought into contact with a wire while being rotated, at least one driven rollers which are rotated by being coupled with the driving roller by the belt, and a guide portion which is placed to pressurize the belt to one side and guides a position of the belt such that the wire is moved by the belt, wherein the pair of wire feeding portions are symmetrically disposed, and one of the guide portions is disposed to face the one side of the other. 